When I first met Suze Weinberg, I was enamored with the way she created three-dimensional texture and divine accents on paper. With the wondrous products from Ranger and other fine stamp and supply companies over the next couple years, Suze created the most amazing impressed and jeweled pins. This process spoke directly to my desire to create beautiful things, as well as to expanding the use of my ever-growing stamp collection.

Imagine my thrill when Suze approached me to work with her in her shows at conventions across the country--from 1999 through 2000, I was able to frolic in the wonderful world of creating with UTEE and Suze.

lways looking for new ways to use UTEE, I developed a technique named Faux Abalone Shell using UTEE on pieces of cardboard. They can be made in a variety of shapes and sizes, and are quick and fun to fashion from minimal supplies. After making several Faux Abalone Shell pieces, I began to wonder how best to feature them in a project.

Enter another amazing person in my stamping world--Roberta Altshuler. She's truly a master creator and teacher, using seed beads for necklaces and other jewelry. She came to Tucson to teach a polymer-clay class and I had the delight of having Roberta and "The Hun" (hubby Gene) stay with us. While we had a wonderful time visiting for three or four days. I showed her my new UTEE creations to get her feedback. I wanted to turn them into a jewelry form but didn't know what form to take. Roberta showed me a beading technique that encased the Faux Abalone Shell pieces in a durable protective flow of stitched seed beads. The results have fooled many an eye into believing this is an authentic abalone-shell bracelet.

Making the Faux Abalone Shell Pieces 1. Turn on your Melting Pot or hot pot and put enough Black UTEE in to melt to a 1/2-inch depth. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for melting. 2. Cut Jones Tones foil sheet into 2-inch squares for as many pieces as you plan to make--eight in this example. 3. With scissors, cut a 2-inch stamping square (cardboard) in quarters or other desirable shapes of similar size. 4. Working on top of the non-stick Teflon sheet, use the tweezers to hold the piece of cardboard securely while dipping one side facedown into the melted UTEE until covered. Remove the coated piece and place faceup on the non-stick sheet. 5. Working quickly, take the foil and place it onto the melted UTEE side of the cardboard piece. Be sure that the shiny, bright picture side of foil is faceup. Gently tap the foil so that areas of it are sure to touch the melted UTEE. Let cool 2 to 3 minutes. 6. Pull off the foil to reveal foil color on the surface of the black piece. Irregularities in surface texture are okay. 7. If you are using a Melting Pot, set up another liner tray to melt Clear UTEE to a 1/2-inch depth. If you have a hot pot, turn unit off and when fully cooled, pry the Black UTEE out, wipe with a paper towel and melt Clear UTEE as above. 8. When the Clear UTEE has melted, use tweezers to dip the black-colored piece down into the Clear UTEE. This will be the "glass" layer. If you leave the piece too long in the hot clear resin, the base of black and foil may slip off. Place the piece faceup on the non-stick sheet. It should look finished, smooth and multi-layered. Edges of the piece should be covered through the process. Allow to cool. 9. From here on, the pieces you've created will be referred to as piece or "cab(s)," short for cabochon, which is by definition a highly polished, convex cut, non-faceted gem. Today "cab" is a generic reference to a flat-sided nugget.

The Beaded Cuff Bracelet Assembly 1. Measure the circumference of your wrist where bracelet will be worn. Add 1 inch to this measurement. 2. Mark this total measurement along the length of the Pellon. Do not trim off the excess. 3. Set the Pellon around your wrist and decide where and how many "Abalone Shell" cabs you want placed on it. Mark these approximations. One piece will be right near one end, and the other end will need to have a 1-inch tab to accommodate the button closure. 4. Glue pieces to the designated places with E6000 glue. Allow to set. Drying overnight is a good idea.

Beading 1. Thread the needle with about a yard of thread. Pull the thread length through the block of beeswax a couple of times. This untangles and strengthens the thread. Tie a knot on the end. 2. Bring the needle up through the back of your interfacing so that the thread is right next to the cab. 3. Pour a variety of colors of seed beads into a small dish. Roberta calls this "bead soup." Using this method, you never have to spend time deciding what color to pick up on your needle. Just take whichever you pick up from the mix. 4. Slip on about four seed beads. 5. Pull the thread so the beads are flat against the interfacing and up against the side of your cab, and bring the needle back down through the interfacing. (Diagram 1) 6. Next, bring the needle back up through the interfacing and in between some of the beads you added. (Diagram 2) 7. Now thread the needle through the other beads to your right (if you work left to right). (Diagram 3) Continue this process until you have beaded all around your cab. 8. Now you are ready to begin the peyote stitch, which will form the bezel.

The Peyote Stitch 1. Stab a bead--skip a bead--sew a bead. This is the peyote stitch mantra. 2. Keep the tension tight as you work around the cab so that the new row sits on top of the last row and is tight against the cab.

This row can be another color for a lacy effect. 5. Depending on how thick your cab is, you might need two, three, or four rows of peyote to come up the side and over the top a bit. 6. Once the edge is done, larger ornamental beads and loops across the face of the cab can be added. 7. End by slipping the needle down the inside of your work next to the cab and going through the backing. Knot and glue. 8. Once you have accomplished this on the UTEE pieces, you will begin to fill in all the other areas over the bracelet, the same as in steps 4 through 7 in "BEADING." I beaded in concentric circles out and away from the UTEE cabs to the edges of the Pellon. Recheck the length of the cuff against your own wrist. Remember that some of the length of the Pellon is taken up in the stitching. Be sure to make the bracelet length comfortable to you. Limit the fill-in beading to the length and nearly to the full width of the bracelet. Don't worry yet about finishing the edges.

Finishing Steps 1. Use the 1/2" X 3" piece of Ultra Suede to make a loop closure. Fold in half length-wise, wrong sides together and finger press. 2. Sew a single row of beads along the open edges, sewing the edges closed. Set aside. 3. Hand-stitch the button to the extended tab. Work between the existing beading. 4. If any areas on the bracelet look sparse, this is the time to go in with a beaded stitch here and there, securing threads to the Pellon backside. 5. Glue together the Pellon and the Ultra Suede backing, sandwiching the loop piece into one end of the bracelet. Adjust the length of loop to be sized for the button closure. 6. Cut excess Pellon and backing free from the determined length and width of the bracelet. 7. As a final finishing touch, slip stitch around the perimeter, adding in each stitch. This will finish the edges.